THE GARDEN PRIMER 



oughly watered. The amount of water a garden re- 

 quires is just enough to maintain the soil at a condi- 

 tion of slowly crumbling apart in the hand after being 

 squeezed and this proportion should be constantly 

 maintained. Too dry a soil or a soil that is too wet 

 even, is not so bad as the alternations between the 

 two extremes which careless gardening permits. 



Seeds vary greatly in the time required for germina- 

 tion. Some sprout as soon as the earth closes around 

 them, seemingly, while others lie dormant for so long 

 that the novice at last gives up hope, growing so thor- 

 oughly resigned to his disappointment that he forgets 

 them completely, when lo! Up comes the living green 

 one day, quite a year perhaps, from the planting time. 



But happily such procrastination is found only 

 among the slow growing plants, with which the beginner 

 is seldom tempted to experiment the perennials which 

 furnish our trees and shrubs and hardiest vegetation 

 generally. Flowers and vegetables ordinarily spring 

 quickly into activity, in a very satisfactory and obliging 

 manner, rewarding the beginner's labors usually within 

 a fortnight sometimes much sooner. 



So much for the practical details of seed handling; 

 and now for one or two things about seeds themselves 

 that ought to be understood and that are interesting 

 to know. 



A seed is the case in which, carefully folded and 

 ingeniously packed away, lies an embryonic plant, with 

 the food necessary to sustain it for a certain period of 

 its life above ground. In some seeds this plant is 



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